For the first time in more than seven decades, a fully professional women’s baseball league is underway in the United States. The new league features four teams representing major American cities: the New York Heights, Boston Hunters, Los Angeles Queens, and San Francisco Firebells. Although the teams carry these city names, all games of the inaugural season are being held at a neutral site—Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois—to consolidate competition and reduce costs during the league’s foundational stage.
Inaugural Season Format and Schedule
The regular season consists of 30 games, running from August 1 to September 6, with each team playing 15 games. The top four teams then advance to the playoffs. This return carries historical weight: the most prominent chapter of women’s baseball in the U.S. was the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), which operated from 1943 to 1954. After that league folded, various scattered attempts emerged, but the 2026 season marks the first fully professional American women’s league in over seven decades.
International Talent and Open Tryouts
The league’s reach extends beyond American players. More than 600 players from 10 countries participated in open tryouts ahead of the season, with 120 advancing to the selection draft held in November 2025. The draft included players from the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Australia, France, England, and Curaçao, giving the league an international character from its first season. Each team selected 30 players in the draft before rosters were trimmed for the season.
Kelsie Whitmore Leads the Way
Kelsie Whitmore headlined the draft as the first overall pick by the San Francisco Firebells, making her the first selection in the new league’s history. Whitmore had already built a notable career playing on men’s teams, including a 2016 stint with the Sonoma Stompers, where she and teammate Stacy Piagno became the first women to play in a professional men’s baseball team since the 1950s. The league also features other prominent names, such as Japan’s Ayami Sato, selected second overall by Los Angeles, and Mo’ne Davis, who gained global attention during the 2014 Little League World Series.
Race to the First Championship
San Francisco finished the regular season in first place with a 10–5 record, then defeated Boston in the semifinals by scores of 6–4 and 9–6 to sweep the series 2–0 and become the first team to reach the league final. In the other semifinal, Los Angeles beat New York 10–3 in the first game, but New York responded with a 9–7 win to tie the series 1–1, forcing a decisive game on September 14. The championship series is scheduled to begin on September 16 and will be a best-of-five format, with the first team to win three games claiming the inaugural league title.
The return of women’s professional baseball is not merely a revival of a bygone era—it is an effort to build a sustainable professional pathway, giving players the chance to compete and opening a door that had been closed to new generations for more than 70 years.